Claustrophobia
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Another defeat causes Eggman to trap Shadow with a simple, but horrifying method. How long will it take for Sonic to find Shadow and rescue him? Leads to Sonadow.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow turned to leave as Sonic dealt the last blow to Eggman's latest creation. The contraption fell to the ground and the trade mark wail of defeat sounded from the scraps of metal. Sonic turned around quickly and called out to his ally.

"Shadow! Going so soon?"

Shadow didn't answer, he just turned to look at Sonic for a second with a lack of expression and continued walking.

"It's just like Shadow to leave like that… before we've even celebrated," Sonic mumbled to himself. The blue hedgehog's attention had left Eggman for only a few seconds and the scientist had escaped. Sonic could see the bloated man running in the distance. He saw no point in chasing after him, whether he gave him an extra beating or not, his enemy would return within a few months.

He decided to go back to Tail's work shop and tell Tails about what had happened. Sonic had only left his friend alone for an hour and he'd been on an adventure already. The blue blur sped off to mystic ruins and barged through the door of the work shop. "Hi Tails!" the blur called cheerily.

Tails was tinkering with the Tornado. "Hi there, Sonic," the young one said casually.

"Hey, Tails… you'll never guess what just happened." Tails looked up from his work and faced Sonic as the blue hedgehog walked over to him. "I have some good news… and some bad news."

"Oh no… Sonic, what have you been up t-"

"The bad news," Sonic interrupted before Tails took his words in the wrong way. "Eggman has a new invention which he's using to take over the world again." At this, Tails sighed. "The good news is, Shadow and I already trashed it."

The both of them smirked at each other. Tails' look of ease turned to confusion.

"Wait, Shadow was there?" he asked.

"Yeah… but he left as soon as the fight was over, he didn't even say a word," Sonic shrugged, he didn't understand Shadow's nature. "I wonder what his problem is." Tails also shrugged, it seemed as though no one understood Shadow's lonesome and grumpy nature.

Shadow walked through the seemingly endless fields and slowly made his way from the scene of the fight in emerald hill to his usual sulky spot in Station Square. Before he could arrive there, he was intercepted by Eggman who was in his Eggmobile. "Hmph, what do you want?" Shadow asked, there was a lack of interest in his tone of voice, despite the question asked.

"I want you gone, Shadow. I freed you from prison island in a hope that you would help me take over the world, and you've done nothing but stop me," Eggman complained.

"So, what do you want me to do? Take a vacation or something?" the dark hedgehog scoffed.

"No, I want you gone, permanently."

Shadow looked unnerved by this, he felt like there was no way Eggman could defeat him, he would have to do something else… which made him anxious.

"And, how will you make sure this is done, doctor?" Shadow asked brashly. "I can't be killed because of my immortality, so even if you somehow managed to defeat me, I'd still be around."

"But I don't plan to kill you, Shadow."

"I suppose you think you'll be able to imprison me," Shadow smirked.

"Yes."

"Ha! Try me." The dark hedgehog walked under the Eggmobile which was floating several metres above him, and then past his adversary.

"But, if you don't, Shadow, your friend might get hurt," Eggman teased. Shadow stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened. The hedgehog turned and looked at the scientist in confusion. "I have Rouge back at the base, all I have to do is say the word and my robots will execute her on the spot."

"I only saw Rouge this morning, you're lying," Shadow said plainly.

"Willing to take that risk?" Eggman smirked maliciously.

Shadow stood in silence for a moment, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head, he didn't know what to do. There was a chance Rouge could die, but there was also a chance Eggman was lying and Shadow would end himself in captivity again. The persistent hedgehog moved his hand slightly, as if he was going to perform a Chaos attack.

"Don't even move, all I have to do is press this button and she dies," Eggman threatened. Shadow noticed Eggman's stare, directed at his body and face. He couldn't move, he couldn't even say the word. The scientist's finger was over the button, there was no way Shadow could use Chaos Control before the button was pressed.

The dark hedgehog gave a sigh of defeat. "Take me, I'm yours," he said reluctantly and put his hands behind his head. Shadow kept a strong and bold look as he made the walk of shame across the wide landscape.

Too Easy, Eggman thought. He literally had the ultimate life form at his command, Shadow was his emotional prisoner, no bars or cages were needed, only the threat of a friends' execution.

But he still had to take precautions. After five minutes of a walking filled with awkward silence Eggman got out of his Egg Mobile and stood in front of his prisoner. "Give me any Chaos Emeralds you have, now," he commanded.

"But-"

"Ah-ah! You don't want me to order Rouge's execution, do you?" Eggman threatened smugly. Shadow scowled and handed over his only emerald, the green one. "Now put your hands back behind your head, I don't want you trying anything."

"How do I know you're not just pulling a cheap trick?" Shadow growled and did as he was told. The hedgehog hated to be pushed about, he preferred to be the one in control.

"Now walk, we're nearly there," Eggman said. Up ahead, Shadow could see a grave yard. Many thoughts went through his head, what was Eggman up to? They entered the yard full of graves. Eggman nudged Shadow towards one of the newly dug ones, there was a box beside it.

"Ha! You've got to be kidding me! You really are cheap, aren't you?" Shadow said in amusement.

"Get in the box, Shadow."

"Hmph, never. This is low, even for you. You're planning to seal me, the ultimate life form, in a measly hole in the ground?" Shadow sighed when he realised he was talking to Eggman, a man who was insane and had recently snapped into an even deeper insanity after his hundredth defeat.

"Get in the box if you want Rouge to live."

Shadow looked at the doctor with a look of deep hatred. "Don't you have a cryo chamber or high security prison you could use?"

"This is much easier. No one will ever come looking for you in a cemetery… you're doomed, hedgehog, now get inside before I lose my patience."

Shadow felt as though his heart head dropped into his stomach. "Y-you're really going through with this… you… you sicken me," Shadow said in disgust and walked over to the small wooden box with his hands still behind his head. Eggman's smirked evilly, something that angered Shadow even more. "You'll regret this you sick bastard."

"Get inside." Eggman walked over the put the lid over Shadow when he laid down inside. The hedgehog began to feel claustrophobic.

"W-wait… let's think about this… do I have to do this now?" Shadow's muffled words came from the box as it began to move.

"Yes, now."

Shadow tensed up. It was pitch black inside of the box and there was hardly any room to move. He was stuck on his back, slowly falling into a deep panic. "I've changed my mind!"

"It's too late now… I wonder if I can get Sonic into one of the open graves nearby… Muahaha!"

Shadow heard the sound of crumbling dirt above him, Eggman was covering the box and filling the hole. There was no way out now. All of a sudden, his head was filled with all of the things he wished he'd done before getting in the box.

"You're insane!" Shadow cried out and banged on the top of the box but by then it was completely covered in a thick layer of dirt. Shadow couldn't hear anything but himself, he was encased in earth, all alone. The hedgehog loved to be alone but this was going too far for him.

He didn't know where Eggman was now, what he was doing or how much time had passed. He was in complete solitary from the world with no one to talk to or turn to. No comfort or even room to move. He stretched out his limbs as far as they could in within his lacking prison. He could barely put his arms out to the side and there was no room to sit up or bend his legs. Shadow could feel the lid of the box on the tip of his nose.

There was a lack of air inside of the box, and Shadow knew that there would soon be none left, but he would have to put up with the oxygen starvation. Not only that but he would have to put up with hunger, thirst, his full bladder that that itch he couldn't reach. Then it hit him, he'd be stuck like this, possibly forever. Slowly getting more and more; hungry thirsty, desperate for air, desperate for the toilet, uncomfortable and almost certainly go insane because of it.

Realising this he could only do one thing, scream.


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic and Tails were relaxing on the beach of Emerald Coast about a week later. They found it normal that they hadn't heard anything from Shadow because he always distanced himself from the group, so they had no worries about him. The two of them lay under the sun without a care.

When he kept his distance from the water, Sonic could relax without anxiety, he enjoyed the soft sand below him and the warm sun above him. There was a feeling that nothing could possibly go wrong today, he was wrong.

"Sonic!"

Sonic looked to his side when he heard someone call his name. It was a feminine voice which sounded familiar, and the owner of the voice was someone he definitely knew. "Rouge?" Sonic said and sat up when he noticed the bat running towards him.

"Sonic, I've been looking for you all day," She said worriedly. "I haven't seen Shadow for a week. I think something might have happened to him."

"Isn't it normal for Shadow to go missing? He is a loner after all," Sonic dismissed the thought that Shadow was in trouble.

"No… it's not. He usually stays with me every night and he hasn't shown up for a week. Were you with him when he left me last week?"

"What? When Eggman showed up?" Sonic asked. Rouge nodded. "Yes, Shadow helped me defeat him and then he left without a word, I haven't seen him since." Rouge groaned in disappointment.

"I'm so worried about him, Sonic. Can you help me find him?" Rouge said hopefully. Sonic stood up and sighed.

"I don't see what the big deal is with Shadow. Why would you worry about him? He's the ultimate life form… or so he says. Whatever's happened to him, he'll turn out fine and come home again."

Rouge looked offended by Sonic's words. "Don't you even care about him?"

"Yeah, I care about him. He's a good ally and all that, but he isn't exactly a the kind of helpless person that I have to worry about."

Rouge stood sadly, slowly agreeing with what Sonic said. "You're right Sonic… he's probably fine. But that means he's very rude. He could have at least told me he was going to leave me… Hmph, it's just so typical of him. Thanks Sonic," Rouge said irritably and left.

Sonic began to grumble to himself and sit down again. "Sonic, what's wrong?" Tails asked.

"Everything was going so well, but now I'm going to have on my mind all day. It's not like I worry about Shadow or nothin' but it would be nice to know what the Chaos he gets up to when he's not around for this long."

"Shall we go home then?"

"Nah, I'd rather be confused on the beach in the sun than to be confused at home, bored out of my mind," the blue one joked. Then he looked uncomfortable, he put his hand on him stomach. "I'm hungry, could really go for some chilli dogs right now."

"Lunch break?" Tails suggested. Sonic nodded and sped off around the corner into the city.

It wasn't long before he returned with a chilli dog in each hand. "Here you go, Tails." Sonic passed one to him before taking a bite of his own. "Mmmm… this could do with a drink too," Sonic mumbled with his mouth full. "I'll be right back."

He was off again.

As he swept around the corners of the city streets of station square, there was still one thing on his mind, Shadow. Exactly what was he up to? Why did he go away for so long and leave Rouge all alone? To stay with her every night meant that he at least cared about her, so why leave her without a word?

He picked up two canned drinks from the nearest vending machine. He opened one of them straight away, it was very hot today and he was yearning for a cold drink. "I'd better get back to Tails… I'm sure he'll need this too," Sonic said, remembering that he wasn't only out here for himself. He gulped up the last of his soda and threw the can behind him, where it flawlessly landed in a metal bin.

Tails waited patiently at the beach, looking out for the blue blur to return. "Hey Tails!" his friend called when he arrived back. "Here ya go." Sonic used a soft underarm thrown to give the can to Tails.

"Where's yours?" Tails asked.

"Had it already… thinking about going to get another, it's so hot tod-"

SPLASH

Tails had opened the drink and it all squirted out at him like a pressure hose. Sonic burst into laughter.

"Sonic, what did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything, 'cept run at several hundred miles per hour with it," Sonic said smugly. "Sorry Tails… I should have been more careful… or left it to settle or something."

"It's okay Sonic, you didn't mean it," Tails sighed.

"I'll go get a couple more, why don't you take a dip in the water while I'm gone, and get the sticky soda off of you."

Sonic ran off again and brought a couple more from the same vending machine then decided to take it slower on the way back by walking. He took a large gulp from his new drink thirstily. "Looks like this is the most action I'm going to get all day…" he sighed.

"BREAKING NEWS!"

Sonic turned to the big screen up on the largest building across the road.

"Eggman has been found dead in Station Square cemetery. It's been reported that he fell down an open grave and snapped his neck. His body could have been there for over a week-"

Sonic couldn't hear the rest, his mind was filled with shock and confusion. The nearby humans listened to the screen and turned to Sonic, who wasn't moving nor blinking, stood with his mouth gaped open. After half a minute he snapped out of it to notice the stares. The fact that many people were looking at him suspiciously made him feel uneasy, so he ran back to Emerald Coast.

Tails was just getting back from the ocean when Sonic arrived looking shell shocked. "Sonic… what's wrong?"

Sonic opened his mouth but no words came out, he struggled to talk. After a few tries, he managed to say what he needed to say. "Eggman… he's been found dead."

It took a while for Sonic to fully explain it and for the two heroes to come to terms with their greatest adversary's death.

"We're… free…" Sonic said in disbelief. "We don't have to worry about him any more…"

"But Sonic, what was he doing in a graveyard?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Probably something to do with an evil plan… but he can't carry it out so it doesn't matter," Sonic shrugged it off. "Tails." Sonic looked at his friend seriously then passed him his soda. "I know this isn't fancy but… let's dedicate this drink to Eggman's death, and the freedom we can experience because of it."

Tails opened his can cautiously, there was a loud whooshing sound as air escaped but he wasn't blasted with fizzy drink. They clinked their cans together, and took a drink. Sonic crushed his can and chucked it to the floor.

"Now, I'm off to find a bathroom," Sonic said, sounding tense. Tails sighed and watched Sonic as he left for the third time in half an hour.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic's slow and cautious walk had turned into a sprint as he became more urgent to find a building with toilets. The problem wasn't finding a bathroom, but a bathroom for anthrops. Humans and anthrops had different sets of rights, and while businesses and local governments were obligated to catering for humans' needs, catering for anthrops' needs was a choice. The streets had become busier at the news of Eggman's death, Sonic knew he'd be stopped by someone for his opinion or something along those lines, which is the last thing he needed.

Sonic stopped in his tracks as he saw them coming, a large crowd of people, led by the press holding cameras and microphones that belonged to many news stations. "Great…" Sonic sighed and braced himself.

"Sonic!" several of the news reporters called. Before he knew it, he was surrounded from all angles by humans, every one of them asking questions while pointing their microphones and cameras at him.

"Sonic, what do you think of Eggman's death-" one reporter started.

"I'd rather not talk about it!" Sonic said, feeling pressured.

"Did you have anything to do with it?" another cut in.

"No!"

"What does the worlds greatest hero plan to do now?"

"Just… chill." Sonic burst out, feeling even more urgent.

"What were you doing when you heard the news, how did you react?"

"Can't remember… I was in shock…. C-can I get out of here?" Sonic asked nervously.

"NO! SONIC!" many called, they wanted him to stay. Sonic became impatient, but there were no exits. The blue hedgehog's ears drooped to the sides of his head with unease and apprehension. He stood silently with his hands by his sides and his legs close together, deciding not to answer any of the questions he heard. Most of the questions were just drowned in sea of voices to he couldn't understand them anyway. After a couple of minutes of this, Sonic had enough.

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed. "I have nothing to do with this… now I have something I really have to do."

The hedgehog's urgency increased as he slowly saw a gap that increased in size. Unable to stand still for much longer he pushed through the space he had then scampered ahead and around the corner.

"Phew… hope I didn't upset anyone."

Sonic ran ahead then stopped in front of a block of public toilets. He sighed with relief when he found some he could use then hurried inside.

The blue blur came back out again looking at ease. "Now to get back to Tails," Sonic said in determination and ran back to the beach for when seemed like the hundredth time that day.

When he got back, Tails was packing up their stuff. "Hey, buddy, what are you doing?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic… you've been gone ages, it's getting late and the tide's coming in," the fox explained.

"Aww, man. They should really put more facilities near this place. I've been running back and forth all day." Sonic exclaimed.

"Perhaps next time, we'll bring more supplies," Tails said and packed the towels they had brought away.

"You know… during my time, travelling around the world with my speed, I've noticed a lot of things. One of them is… there aren't many hedgehogs around anymore," Sonic said while they were walking through some empty streets, on their way back to Tail's workshop.

"Yeah, apart from you, Shadow and Amy, I've not seen any others lately. Perhaps you're a rare species," Tails joked. Sonic gave a small chuckle. "You and Amy may have to reproduce in order to save it." Sonic's smile went immediately.

"Ha. Fat chance, even if we were the last two hedgehogs on Earth I would never do anything with her. She's a good person and all that but, we're in the friendship zone now, and she needs to realise that."

"Amy and Shadow then?" Tails said. Sonic frowned even more.

"Tails, I'm not going to have to save me species! We're not the only ones left!" Sonic exclaimed irritably.

"Yeah, I know but, what if you were in that scenario?" Tails asked.

"Not even if the survival of my race depended on it. I'm a single man, Tails. Always have been, always will be. You know how much I love freedom! I would never settle down with a wife and have children."

"Okay, okay," Tails said, letting Sonic off. They entered a clearing of grass, they were exiting the city.

The blue one stopped all of a sudden. Tails walked a few metres ahead before noticing that Sonic had stopped. The fox looked behind him to see that Sonic was facing the station square cemetery.

"That's where Eggman was found dead," Sonic said monotonously.

"Shall we go and see?"

"No… I'd rather not," Sonic said and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Shadow was in searing pain and agony. Why hadn't he passed out yet, having not consumed in oxygen, food or water for so long? The dark hedgehog groaned and choked, in a situation like this he would usually use deep and heavy breaths to get him through the pain but he couldn't even do that. He screamed out again and again, but no one could hear him. Even the masses of GUN officers who were investigating the death, and all of the passers by. Then again, Shadow couldn't hear them either. He had no idea how long he'd been in this coffin, but it felt like an eternity, one that would never end.

Sonic and Tails arrived home in mystic ruins. "Ah, good to be back inside where it's cool," Sonic sighed, enjoying the shade that the roof and walls around him created.

"Sonic, do you think we should check up on Rouge before the sun sets… to make sure she's okay?" the young one asked. Sonic gave a slight nod.

"Yeah, sure." The hedgehog seemed very distant.

"You're thinking about Eggman's death, aren't you?" Tails asked cautiously. Sonic turned to face him, with his eyes narrowed in fury.

"Yes, Tails. After everything we fought for, after all of the sacrifices made, all of the lives lost, after all of those days wasted fighting him, the pain we all went through… after all of **that**!" Sonic started off in a frustrated growl and ended up shouting at the top of his voice, this made Tails jump a little. "After all of it… he simply dies because he trips up on his own two feet…" he rasped and looked to the floor. Sonic's hands were in tightly balled fists and he was shaking, as though he was trying to hold back tears. "Why did we even waste our time?"

The two of them walked into the small living room. Sonic sat down while Tails walked to the front of the room where the TV was.

"You know… some news reporters asked me if I have something to do with his death. I can promise you Tails, I don't. But I wish so much… that I did," Sonic said through gritted teeth.

"D-do you think Shadow has something to do with it?" Tails asked. "It could be why he's been gone for so long…"

"You know what. I hope so. I hope Shadow was behind him and gave him a discreet nudge into that grave before disappearing or something."

Tails turned on the TV to hear that same question being asked to Sonic on the news.

"_Did you have anything to do with it?" a female news reporter on the TV asked._

"_No!" Sonic's frustrated yell sounded back at the blue hedgehog from the TV. _

Tails watched Sonic's actions on the TV, closely. "Whoa, Sonic, you look very tense there… desperate even- oh." Tails smiled in realisation.

Sonic turned away in embarrassment. "Yep… they caught me before I had the chance to go," he grumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up. The young one let out little snorts of laughter which he tried his hardest to hold back.

"Ugh… so many people can see it too…" Sonic groaned. He then looked back at the TV again when he heard the voice over.

"Many believe that Sonic may have something to do with the death of Eggman by because of his anxious nature during the interview-"

"I had to go and I was caught off guard for Chaos sake!" the hedgehog yelled at the screen.

"- but authorities have said that no punishments will be dealt out to anyone who did have connection to the death due to doctor Robotnik's past actions."

Sonic sighed with relief, then got up to leave, he didn't want to hear any more.

"Man… it's been a long day… can't wait to go to bed…" the hedgehog sighed and headed to the door.

"We need to go and see Rouge first, remember?"

Sonic face-palmed. "Yeah, sure… j-just let me take a shower first… got a lot on my mind…"

Tails left Sonic to it. It wasn't like a upbeat hero to act like this, but today was different and a lot needed to be solved.


	4. Chapter 4

Sonic knocked on the door of Club Rouge, a few short raps echoed through the empty street. It was a weekday, so the Club wasn't open to customers, and the bat didn't feel confident enough to open it anyway after the sudden and unexplained loss of her friend. The blue hedgehog and his young friend waited for the door on the side of the building to open. The setting sun shone down on the two of them with it's orange light, Sonic couldn't wait to get inside and in the shade.

Sonic hoped that Shadow had returned and Rogue was no longer upset, otherwise him and Tails would be obligated to stay with her until late.

The latch turned inside and the door opened. Rouge stood at the door looking confused.

"We came to see if you're okay," Sonic explained when he saw her face expression. The bat gave a warm and thankful smile.

"Thanks Sonic… but I'm fine."

Sonic sighed with relief, no longer worried that he would have to spend the night with a sobbing woman. Unless, it was one of the lies women told… when they're fine, they really mean-

"It's just… I don't understand why Shadow would leave me like that." Rouge sounded frustrated. At those words, Sonic cancelled the night's plans he had in his head. "He's either really rude… or in serious trouble,"

"Maybe Eggman's death has something to do with it," Sonic said. "Tomorrow, we could investigate." Sonic sensed there was a hope for escape from this situation. "We'll drop by tomorrow morning, okay?" Sonic turned to leave.

"Don't you want to come in, you've come all this way…" Rouge sounded fragile. Sonic sighed, he wanted to go home badly but Rouge looked like she needed company.

"Of course Rouge… thanks," the hedgehog said with a sigh and came inside. Tails followed silently. They were invited upstairs into the apartment.

"Do you want a drink?" she asked.

"Yeah, got any soda?" Sonic asked. Tails looked at him with a raised eye brow as if to say 'More soda, after what happened to you earlier?' Sonic shrugged at him when Rouge turned her back to look into her cupboards.

"I have none," she shook her head.

"I'll go out and get some then, my treat!" Sonic exclaimed and ran to the door.

"Sonic, don't leave me here alone!" Tails exclaimed but he was gone.

Sonic was glad to get out of that house, he actually planned to return with the drinks, he wasn't that rude. If only his curiosity hadn't gotten the better of him.

Being in station square, so close to where Eggman died, he wanted to check it out. Now that he was alone with no one to hold him back, he ran over to the grave yard. The blue blur sped over to it. All authorities had cleared out, leaving the cemetery in it's normal state. The blue hedgehog slowly walked inside. His feet padded along the grass, making little sound, disturbing no one.

Sonic walked over a patch of newly growing grass, he then stopped in his tracks, feeling uneasy. The blue one looked down, surely he wasn't standing on a grave, there was no grave stone, he thought to himself, but the grass did seem awfully new and show compared to the rest of the cemetery. He immediately leapt off of it. The hedgehog felt as if it isn't such a good idea to be in a grave yard as it was getting dark. Despite being powerful fast and able to beat anything that stood in his way, his superstitions and natural fear took over his mind and he turned to leave.

But it felt like… something was calling him.

"Shadow… was here," Sonic said, while deep in thought. "Maybe he was the one who pushed Eggman in… and now he's gone away with chaos control until the heat dies down…"

"Sonic!"

The hedgehog looked to the gates, a member of GUN was standing at the entrance.

"Eggman had this when he fell into the grave," he said and held out and emerald, a green emerald. Sonic's eyes widened, he walked over to him.

"But… that's the emerald Shadow had. I know it, he used in our fight a week ago." The blue hedgehog took it cautiously.

Sonic had no idea what was going on, but he knew he had to sort it out quickly. Shadow wouldn't have just left Rouge like that without a word, and Eggman had his emerald.

"Thanks," the hedgehog said breathlessly and sped back to the inner city where Rouge's apartment was.

Many thought went through Sonic's head as he ran through the dark streets. If Shadow didn't have his emerald with him, there would be no way to track him. At least if he had the emerald, they would have been able to sense it with the other emeralds and find him. Another thing was that, if Eggman had Shadow's emerald, he probably had something to do with Shadow's disappearance, and the only way to find out what happened to Shadow would be to ask Eggman, but that was impossible because Eggman was dead.

Sonic stopped on the spot as all of the events and information was all unravelling, he added it all up in his head. The grave yard, Eggman's death, Shadow's disappearance, the emerald, the shivers that went down his spine when he stepped on the unmarked grave.

"No… way…" Sonic breathed. "Shadow couldn't have been… he wouldn't let that happen to himself… he's stronger than that-"

Sonic looked at the emerald which he was holding in his left hand, he took out his blue emerald and held it in his right hand. His heart stopped as he realised he'd stopped in the middle of a road, he looked to his left to see headlights getting closer.

Then nothing.


	5. Chapter 5

_If I ever get out of this, I'm going to be claustrophobic for the rest of my life_, Shadow thought to himself. He had no idea how long it had been since he'd been buried alive, but he did know it was a very long time. The pain throughout the dark hedgehog's body and everything else had numbed, he felt empty and hopeless. The hedgehog kept falling in a out of consciousness due to fatigue. This made it impossible to keep track of time. A thousand years could have passed but it could have felt like a few hundred because he was unconscious for the rest of it.

Then he heard something. The sound of soil getting displaced and moving above him. Shadow groaned as he tried to speak, but couldn't. The sound went on for a while, until he felt the box vibrate as a shovel hit the lid. The distressed hedgehog opened his mouth to call out to whoever was digging, but it was made impossible due to his dry throat and lack of oxygen. His sense of gravity was swayed which meant the box was moving somehow. He'd been found. The trapped being's heart rate increased, this was it, he'd finally be free.

The subsequent few seconds felt like hours, then he saw a flicker of light. The lid was opening, and his skin felt sunlight again, he reached out his hand to whoever was opening the box. The lid was off, but Shadow's eye sight was blurry so he couldn't see who had helped him.

"Shadow!" he heard the voice. He knew that voice, his eyes widened, which didn't improve his sight at all but showed his surprise. "Shadow… I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you sooner buddy. C'mon, I'll help you out."

Shadow felt the first contact he'd felt ever since he'd been shoved into that deep dark hole. It felt… warm and intimate. His rescuer picked him up by wrapping his arms around Shadow's body and lifting him out of the box, the pained hedgehog was then laid out on the grass.

Shadow reached out to his rescuer, first touching the leg of the hero, then Shadow's gloved hand was held by another gloved hand. "It's okay now… I've got you."

Shadow slowly and painfully took in his first breath, first through his nose and then through his mouth when he felt comfortable. Then he was hit with a splitting headache. Unable to scream out or move and put his hands on his head, tears streamed from his eyes, very salty and scarce tears. Crying was something Shadow would have refused to do in front of anyone, but the circumstances were special, he wouldn't hold back.

"Oh man… Shadow, I'll go and get you something to drink!"

Shadow felt the contact leave him, his hand was dropped by his rescuer and he heard rapid footsteps. The dark hedgehog's sight became clearer temporarily, he looked forward and his suspicions were proved. Leaving the gates of the grave yard of great speed, was Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic took his usual trip into the city to get a drink, but stopped when noticed it's difference. The buildings were no longer the usual sky scrapers and square buildings, they were of various shapes, some were even round. They weren't made out of crumbling concrete, but robust metal. The surroundings weren't of a dull tarmac, but shining metal and marble. Sonic's mouth gaped open, where had he thrown himself into this time? An alternate dimension where Eggman never existed perhaps?

The blue hedgehog looked over the large screen on a large control tower. It took a while for his eyes to adjust, was that image, 3D? It certainly was… and the date in the corner of the 100 inch screen?

"I'm not in the 21st century anymore…" Sonic said, feeling sick to his stomach.

Nearly getting hit by that car had caused him to go into panic mode and he performed chaos control with the two emeralds he had, without a thought of where he wanted to go, and he ended up outside of graveyard and ran to the spot he'd stood over before and began digging without second thought. He used a shovel left next to a nearby tree by the people who used the grave yard last.

Now where was he? In the same place… in the 23rd century. His mind jumped to why he'd come here in the first place.

"I need a place to get a drink for Shadow…" Sonic said, thinking of the vending machines in the 21st century. He sped up to find one, or something that looked remotely like one.

He looked across the street full of humans and saw a window in the side of a building, there was a large shiny vending machine built into the building. The hedgehog ran over and admired it. "This is… fancy…" he said, sounding puzzled. There was nowhere to insert money. He pressed the code for what drink he needed and decided to work it out from there. A dim light flashed in his eye, which made him squint.

"IDENTITY UNRECOGNISED. PLEASE REGISTER TO USE. IF YOU THINK THIS IS AN ERROR, TRY AGAIN." The machine droned.

Sonic's mouth gaped open. He looked around desperately for a shop that sold what he needed. As he was walking, he gained a lot of confused and surprised looks from humans. The poor hedgehog was surrounded by them, he had to push his way through the crowds, but there were no shops around. It was all electrical vending machines.

"The future is complicated…" Sonic sighed. "There's only one thing I can do."

Shadow was in serious need of a drink, and desperate times call for desperate measures. The hedgehog made sure no one was looking and punched the glass of the vending machine. Sonic yelped in pain and keeled back as his fist just bounced off the reinforced glass. "I just want a drink! What do you want from me!?" the frustrated hedgehog yelled, and gained more stares from the humans around him.

While Sonic stood by the machine, thinking of a way to get his much needed drink, he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked to his side to see another anthrop, the only one amongst the bustling crowd of humans.

"Hardly any vending machines take cash any more. It's all by credit it… I know, it's annoying," they explained. Sonic sighed, he didn't have a credit card, or even a bank account for that matter.

"Do you have cash on you? I'll get you need and you can pay me back."

"Yes please, and make it quick. I have someone waiting for me," Sonic said urgently, he pointed to what he needed then watched the anthrop get their eye scanned. "Thanks!" Sonic snatched the cans of drink and put a few notes in his hand. "Keep the change-"

"Wait… this is the old currency!" The blue one was already gone from sight.

Sonic returned to the cemetery to see Shadow crawling over to the tree near the entrance. "Shadow, what are you doing… you should rest," Sonic said with concern.

Shadow just scowled at him and put his hands on the bark, he then pulled himself up. Sonic was confused as to why Shadow would want to stand up at a time like this. The blue hedgehog was about to grab his weak friend, but he heard the sound of trickling water and stopped. Sonic left Shadow to it, not wanting think what a two hundred year old pee would feel like.

When the dark hedgehog finished, he faced Sonic with a pained expression, he one had scruffy matted fur and dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't. "Here Shadow, I got you a drink!" Sonic said and passed it to him.

Shadow weakly took it by slowly reaching his hand out and gripping his fingers around the can. It looked as if he had trouble focusing on the object as he held it up to his face and looked at it. The dark hedgehog frowned, his eyes narrowed at Sonic.

"What's wrong?"

Shadow just grunted and dropped the drink, his body fell after it. Sonic stepped forward to catch him. Shadow's body leant against Sonic's, their arms wrapped around each other's, Shadow's head hung over Sonic's shoulder.

"Water, Sonic… not soda," Shadow's raspy voice sounded through his deep breaths. "You… never cease to surprise me… faker."

Sonic gently lay Shadow down on the ground. The miserable one watched Sonic through squinted eyes, open one of the cans and hold it over Shadow's mouth.

"Open up Shadow, I'll poor it down your throat… you'll feel a lot better,"

"No… way."

"But it's an energy drink Shadow, you'll recover quicker," Sonic whined. "Come on!"

Shadow's mouth remained closed, the stubborn hedgehog would not drink the fizzy drink. Sonic sighed and stood up. "I guess you want me to buy you some water then," he complained.

"Hmph… how about you take me home and run some from your tap, you live with Tails by his work shop right?" Shadow grumbled.

"Shadow… it's not the 21st century any more…you've been buried for over two hundred years," Sonic said solemnly.

"Stop messing around, Faker! If that were true, you'd be dead," Shadow growled.

"I… came to the future with Chaos Control…"

Shadow's eyes widened.

"So… that wasn't just a time illusion caused by pain. I really was in there for centuries…" Shadow breathed. Sonic noticed the emotional pain in Shadow's eyes when he realised that so much time had passed. The blue one had a mischievous idea when he also noticed that Shadow's mouth was also open. Sonic bent down and poured the drink into Shadow's mouth.

Shadow coughed and spluttered as the fizzy drink hit the back of his throat unexpectedly. Sonic stopped when he noticed the dark one's spluttering. Shadow narrowed his eyes at Sonic in hatred, then snatched the drink out of his hand. The ebony hedgehog sat up and gulped the rest down.

"I hate you Faker," Shadow grumbled and got up from the floor, feeling his body absorb the sugar and caffeine almost immediately.

"You're welcome, Shadow," Sonic smirked and trailed after Shadow, who was slowly making his way out of the grave yard with the usual callous look on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. This story is a lot more popular than I thought it would be.

* * *

Before the two of them could enter the city, they were stopped by several GUN soldiers who had many guns pointed at the two of them. A growl sounded in Shadow's throat. Sonic stepped in front of Shadow before the dark one lost his temper and attacked them.

"Listen guys, we're not here to cause trouble. We're just two hedgehogs in need of a good meal, let us in," Sonic said casually. Shadow frowned at how laid-back back Sonic was in a situation like this.

"Hedgehogs?" One of the men asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah… didn't you hear me or something?" Sonic said while scratching the side of his head.

"UGH!" both Sonic and Shadow exclaimed as they were hit in the neck with tranquilisers. Sonic stumbled back and fell into Shadow's arms, causing the dark hedgehog to also stumble back and fall to the floor. Sonic turned to his side and tried to get up, but he was too weak. Shadow had already passed out due to being weakened beforehand by a long imprisonment underground. The blue one looked up, for a second he saw the soldiers approach them, then everything went black for him.

The next thing he saw, was white, all white. Sonic looked around him, he was in a room where the walls, ceiling and floor were all white. The hedgehog was in a large bed, its covers were also colourless like the rest of the room. A foot away from him, was Shadow, also tucked up under the covers.

Another noticeable feature in the room was the mirror on the other side. Sonic swung his legs to the side and sat on the edge of the bed. His feet gently touched the floor, it was hard, cold and shiny. This could be felt through his socks. The curious hedgehog walked over to the mirror and tapped on the glass. "I know someone's in there watching us. This is no mirror, it's one way glass," Sonic yelled. "What's going on here!?"

No answer.

Sonic returned to the back of the room where the bed was. On the floor at his side, was his shoes. He put them on. This certainly wasn't an arrest, Sonic thought. This was too cosy for a place like Prison Island or other building of captivity. Unless this was how criminals were treated in the future.

The troubled hedgehog looked around the room again and admired the other features. By the large mirror was a door, it looked strong so there was no point in trying to break it. At the wall on the left side was another door, it was smaller. Sonic supposed it was a cupboard of some sort. On the wall at the other side, another door, with a symbol on it. The symbol for male anthrop, which meant it was bathroom.

When he looked over to Shadow, he noticed that the dark hedgehog was still fast asleep, unaware he'd shared a bed with his rival. Sonic didn't mind much, it wasn't as if they'd made contact, it was a large bed and they were a comfortable distance apart. When Shadow began to stir, which made Sonic feel uneasy. He knew the miserable hedgehog wouldn't see it in the same way.

Sonic froze as he saw Shadow's eyes shoot open, his red irises darted in Sonic's direction, he was furious.

"What that f-"

"Shadow, it's not what it looks like!" Sonic exclaimed as Shadow got up out of bed and into a defensive stance. "This is how we were left by GUN, and look at the space between us." This failed to calm Shadow down.

Just then, the door a the front of the room opened, revealing a few humans dressed in white coats. Shadow felt uneasy at the presence of scientists, it only meant that sinister things were to be done to the two of them. Both hedgehogs turned to face them, standing either side of the bed.

"You're both awake now," one of the tall male humans pointed out.

"Why are we here?" Sonic asked, also getting into a defensive stance.

"You are aware that you're the last two hedgehogs in existence, right? Your species was thought to have gone extinct decades ago," the same man explained. Sonic and Shadow looked at each other with mouths gaped open. Shadow frowned and folded his arms.

"Well, you don't have to worry about our species going extinct any time soon, I'm immortal," he explained calmly.

"That's no good though, it takes two to reproduce."

Sonic began to chuckle. "Shame we're both boys, isn't it then? We can't have kids."

"But you can… with the power of chaos," another scientist enlightened.

Shadow looked at the humans in disgust, Sonic's smile grew wider. The dark one looked even more disgusted when he noticed Sonic's amusement.

"You're agreeing with them, Sonic?" he hissed.

"Nope. They've got to be joking."

"I don't think they are joking, would they really stand here and prank us, Sonic?" Shadow said seriously. "They want us to reproduce."

"Yeah, well it's not going to happen. I'm straight!" the hero exclaimed. "Men don't do it for me, especially not that Faker!"

"Hmph, you're not my type either, Faker," Shadow said, sounding just as stubborn.

"What kind of relationship do you two have?" they were asked.

"Allies."

"Friends."

They both answered simultaneously. Sonic looked at Shadow in offence, Shadow looked away awkwardly.

"Well, I thought after saving you from being buried alive, you'd at least see me as a friend," Sonic scoffed and looked away. "You're welcome!"

Both hedgehogs were facing away from each other, there was no chance of getting friendly with each other, never mind becoming intimate.

"Please, your species is in danger!" the closest human exclaimed. "Do it for us!"

"For you!? You humans deserve it nothing! You treat our kind like crap and you think that we should do this for you? You make me sick," Shadow spat. "Two hundred years on and you're still dividing humans and anthrops… I wouldn't want my children to live in a world where this is happening, no fucking chance."

"Do it for the sake of your race then."

Shadow frowned even more. "What, so you can discriminate against them too?" the hedgehog was fuming. The was no chance of persuasion.

"Fine then. We had a feeling this wouldn't work so easily, so we had a second plan," one of the humans said seriously and walked over to the small door on the left side of the room, with the use of keys, he opened it.

Shadow walked forward and peered inside from the distance. It was a very small, tight space. No more than 1 metre squared in floor space, and the height of the hedgehogs themselves, the room was also dimly lit.

"If you're not going to get intimate, we'll _make_ you intimate."

Sonic and Shadow stood on the spot with their arms folded, staying strong and remaining stubborn as always. They were crowded by the group of scientist and coaxed into the box like room. The door was slammed in the hedgehog's faces. "Well that was easy enough," they were heard saying from the outside, then silence.

"They're gone…" Sonic said quietly, but grunted when he realised how close he was to Shadow. "Ugh, such a tight squeeze… think you could move over a bit?"

"I am moved over… as far as I can go, it's you who needs to move over, Faker!"

"Can't, I'm squashed already… get your elbow out of my ribs!"

"No! Get your quills out of my face!"

The two of them shuffled to try and get comfortable.

"Ah, don't stand on my foot!" Shadow yelled, noticing he only had socks on and he'd been stood on by someone who had shoes on.

"Didn't mean it, now stop breathing on me- MPHMM!"

"Maybe you should get out my face then!" Shadow said, putting his hands over Sonic's muzzle. Sonic put his arms out frantically, to get Shadow off of him.

"OWW! My eye Faker! Be careful!"

"Geddoffammethen!"

"What did you say- AHH!" Shadow took his hand away and shook it as he felt Sonic's teeth dig in to it's flesh after his muffled words.

They were silent for a few seconds while they caught their breath after all of the struggling.

"S-Shadow… know how those energy drinks we had… ung…" Sonic groaned.

"Yes Faker?" Shadow grumbled, he wasn't at all interested.

"I gotta go… badly."

Shadow's eyes widened in shock and anger. "Don't you dare, Faker!"

"Please Shadow, don't you have to too-" Sonic was cut off by a loud and abrupt growl from Shadow's throat. "It has to come out noooowwww."

"Stop whining, Faker," Shadow scolded and elbowed the annoyance in the lower abdomen. The blue one gave a squeak of desperation and decided to stay quiet about the matter.

"What do we do, Shadow?"

"I don't know, Faker. For now, we'll just wait. They can't keep us in here forever. If they want you alive… they'll have to feed you, that's when we make our escape," Shadow planned. Sonic nodded in agreement.

Feeding time couldn't come any sooner.


	7. Chapter 7

Hours passed and nothing happened. Sonic and Shadow sat down with their knees up due to the lack of space, leaning against the walls opposite to each other. Silence had fallen over the two of them, neither had anything to say, so they sat there in an awkward silence. Until Shadow spoke sounding tired and emotionally drained.

"Sonic… the day we fought Eggman and he put me in the grave… did he have Rouge captive by any chance?" The dark one looked down at his knees, dreading the answer he'd be given.

"No… she was at home waiting for you-"

"DAMN IT!" Shadow roared to the skies and banged his right fist on the wall. "I'm such an idiot!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Sonic exclaimed, having no clue about Shadow's sudden outburst.

Shadow sighed and looked at Sonic, deciding to tell him the story of how the ultimate life form managed to get himself buried alive. Sonic cringed as his comrade explained the excruciating agony he went through while he waited for someone to rescue him.

"And now… Eggman's free, without us to stop him from taking over the world… who know what he could have done in the 21st century!" Shadow exclaimed as he finished his story. Sonic smirked at him.

"No need to worry Shadow. He died."

Shadow looked into blank space, he couldn't believe it, Eggman was dead. Sonic continued to explain.

"I've worked it all out now. He buried you, then fell down another grave himself, his neck snapped and he died instantly," Sonic said with a slight smirk. Shadow cringed.

"Such a simple death… for someone who brought so much destruction and pain. If only it were that simple for me… I know that if I'm going to die one day, it's going to be _gruesome_."

"I thought the same thing. After all we've fought for, all the pain we've gone through trying to defeat him, and he trips over his own two feet and ends it all himself," Sonic said solemnly.

"How did you find out about his death? Did you find him?" Shadow asked. Sonic shook his head, it was his turn to tell the story of how he came to find Shadow and dug him up.

When the story was over, Shadow gave a smirk.

"Hmph, who would have thought that you could work it all out by yourself, Faker?" Shadow said. He noticed how close they were to each other, their arms and legs were touching each other's as they sat side by side. Sonic's clean and soft fur brushed with Shadow's fur, matted by centuries of pain and sweat.

"Shadow… you look really uncomfortable…" Sonic commented, noticing Shadow's distant face expression and his body language. The hedgehog was tensed up in all places.

"I'm… fine, Faker… I'm just…" Shadow began but he became silent before his sentence finished. Sonic turned to him, eagerly wanting to know. Shadow's worried eyes darted towards Sonic for a second then turned away again. "… a little claustrophobic…" The ultimate life form sounded ashamed.

"I'm not surprised, after what you went through. There's nothing wrong with being afraid of being trapped like this… _I_ certainly don't like it," Sonic shivered.

"At least it's… warm in here. It was freezing in that box."

"Do they really expect us to reproduce in this little thing… there's hardly any space in here to stand let alone… ya' know…" Sonic darted his eyes elsewhere, not wanting to mention what they were expected to do.

"Maybe they only put us in here to force us to… improve our relationship… we're forced to make contact, something I haven't done in so long… I'm almost enjoying this," Shadow said shamefully. Sonic's eyes widened, Shadow noticed this in the corner of his eye. "Contact with anyone is a luxury to me right now. I'm a loner but I don't like being that distant."

Just then, they heard a click and the door in front of them opened.

"Today's bonding session is over… you may do what you need to, there are refreshments available. You have six hours," one of the humans said and got out of their way.

Sonic dashed for the bathroom and Shadow slowly walked over to the bed where his shoes were. "I thought you were going to keep us in there until we gave you what you wanted," Shadow said nonchalantly as he strapped his feet into his shoes. "Catering for our needs is a surprise."

The scientists left the room without a nod. Shadow death glared at their backs as they left the room. Sonic came out of the bathroom looking relieved. "Shadow, maybe you should take a shower while you have the chance," Sonic said.

Shadow's lips grew thin and straight as he stared at Sonic. "Why?"

Sonic was taken aback by this question, he became nervous. "Well, you kind of… stink-" he stopped talking as he noticed Shadow's anger.

"Hmph, probably because I was stuck with you for several hours!" Shadow roared and stormed into the bathroom.

Sonic sighed, then realised that they'd been in close contact for so long. The blue hedgehog took a sniff of the fur that skin that had come into contact with Shadow the most, and to no surprised, he smelt too. Sonic thought to himself, Shadow probably knew it was him who caused the smell, being the one trapped in a box for over two hundred years, but he was just too embarrassed to admit it.

Shadow felt comforted to be in a bathroom again. It was private, clean and quiet. He was finally away from that blue hedgehog and able to clean up two hundred years worth of sweat. There were a few white towels hung over a rail at the side of the room by the shower, above them was a shelf full of assorted cleaning products. Shadow had no idea which one to use, there were so many shower gels, soaps, perfumes, shampoos and more. They were all in different flavours, scents, purposes, brands. Shadow had no idea of which was best.

Shadow chose the simplest shower gel on the rack and hopped in the shower after taking his shoes, gloves and socks off. Inside the glass case with a shower head on the ceiling, was an assortment of scrubbing brushes and flannels. These could come in handy, Shadow thought to himself. By putting his hand over a button like sensor, he turned the shower on and was hit with a cascade of warmth and moist, it soothed his dry skin as it hit his body and burning throat as he opened his mouth and swallowed some.

Sonic waited outside as Shadow took his time in the shower. "Aww, come on Shadow. I'm bored… hurry up!" Sonic exclaimed and banged on the door.

"Go away, Faker!" Shadow's angry voice echoed from inside.

"Oh right… sorry. Remember to scrub behind the ears!" Sonic joked and chuckled as he heard Shadow's roars of frustration. "There is no chance we'd ever be close… I enjoy annoying him too much!"

The hedgehog smiled and went over to the wheeled table that had an assortment of foods and beverages on, and decided to indulge himself before he was chucked into the box with Shadow again.


	8. Chapter 8

With hedgehogs squeaky clean and fed, all they had left to do was sleep in the large bed. Sonic laid down on his side, smelling the covers he realised they'd been changed while they were in the box.

"I have to admit, this isn't too shabby," Sonic said in satisfaction as he lay on top of the covers and put his hands behind his head, resting them on the pillow. Shadow stood by the bed on the other side. "Aren't you gonna join me?"

Shadow just frowned and looked away. "Wow, even when you're fattened up, you're grumpy…" he scoffed.

"Fattened up?" Shadow said through gritted teeth.

"You ate more than me… and I thought _I_ was greedy."

"You try starving yourself for two hundred years and _then_ see how much you can eat!" Shadow yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Shadow, just lie down. I promise I'll stay on my side of the bed!"

The dark one gave a 'Hmph' and laid down. Sonic noticed his ebony eye lids dropping as he laid there in silence. The blue one smirked and got under the covers, he felt tired, and the extreme comfort wasn't helping him stay awake. Sleep never felt so good before to the two of them, they decided to give into it and make the most of the time they had left in their comfortable bed.

Awoken abruptly, Sonic sat up and shook his head. Looking over to Shadow, he noticed the heavy sleeper was still deep in his slumber.

"It's time to go back inside, come on!" The humans yelled. Sonic rubbed his eyes and got up. He watched as one of the males shook Shadow gently to get him to finally wake up. The ebony hedgehog began to stir and he was left to wake up fully.

"S-sonic…. L-leave me alone…" he mumbled.

"It's not me… it's them… come on Shadow, wake up!" Sonic yelled. Shadow's eyes shot open and he leapt out of bed. The black hairs on the back of his small neck stood up in anger and apprehension, he'd been shaken by a human.

"I refuse to go back in there! Quit now while you can, Sonic and I are never going to get intimate!" Shadow said and bared his teeth.

"Even after you both washed with the shower gel that uses a scent which attracts mates?" The human in front of Shadow teased. Both hedgehogs looked at each other uneasily, then they were both grabbed and coaxed into the small metal room for a second time. The door was slammed in their faces and they were left to deal with each other once again.

But this time, it was different. Instead of falling into rock hard walls and floors, they plummeted into the comfort of a thick white duvet and pillows. The hedgehog's sunk into its bliss, confused about what was happening. "They've taken it one step further… who can resist falling asleep in this… soft… beautiful…" Shadow's voice got quieter and softer.

"Shadow! Don't fall asleep again!" Sonic yelled. Shadow snapped out of his sleepy trance and cleared his throat.

"You're right, Faker. If we fall asleep, we'll end up all over each other… and that's what they want," Shadow said, trying to get as far away from Sonic as possible. The two of them shuffled about and leant against the pillows they were given, but they were still touching each other.

Sonic's eye lids drew heavy, they flickered open and closed for a while until he snapped out of his trance. He knew he couldn't fall asleep, him and Shadow would end up cuddling somehow and it could all go wrong. Shadow had gone awfully quiet though, the blue one looked over to his dark counterpart to notice he was fast asleep. "It's up to me to stay awake and keep us apart," Sonic said boldly and got comfortable.

Sonic shook his head in shock as he felt himself dropping off. Shadow had spread out his legs slightly, his legs were over on Sonic's side. The blue one pushed the leg over to the other side again, but Shadow reacted by rolling his whole body to Sonic's side. Like a child automatically reaching out to cuddle a teddy, Shadow wrapped his arms around Sonic. The blue one breathed in in shock and worry. He wanted to get Shadow off of him but he… smelt so… _good_.

_NO SONIC! You're straight! You like women, not Shadow! _Sonic thought to himself. Cautiously, he pushed Shadow away from him, hoping the dark one wouldn't wake up in the process and give the blue hedgehog a beating. The deed was done and the hero was free again. Then he felt his eye lids drop like before. He would never survive these next few hours without sleeping. Him and Shadow would have to take it in turns… _just give him and a few more minutes and then_… Sonic's head shot upwards after he ended up dropping into a slumber again. _Gotta stay awake! _Sonic exclaimed in his mind.

A few minutes later Shadow began to stir. Finally, Sonic thought, he would no longer have to struggle to keep them himself and Shadow apart.

"F-faker… what happened?" Shadow said groggily and looked at Sonic with tired eyes.

"You fell asleep, I'm not surprised… this place is so comfortable… and warm…" Sonic's eyes began to close again. The hedgehog was sat up so fell forward when he dropped off, Shadow held out his hands to stop himself from getting crushed by the falling blue hedgehog.

Sonic didn't awaken from the shock of bumping into Shadow, instead fell into his accidental embrace. Shadow's eyes widened as he ended up with his arms around Sonic.

"F-faker… wake up. Sonic," Shadow said in disgust as he shook Sonic gently. The dark one turned his head to the side and yawned, after his yawn be breathed in slowly through his nose, breathing in Sonic's scent. Shadow turned back to Sonic, his muzzle brushed against his ally's, "S-sonic… you have to… wake…" he whispered weakly.

Shadow felt no more. They were both asleep.

Meanwhile, a few humans were high-fiving each other in the other room. With the subtle use of sleeping gas and hidden camera's, they were able to manipulate the hedgehog's into sleeping with each other. All they needed to do, was wait for them to wake up to see if this changed anything between them.


	9. Chapter 9

AAAHHHHHH

Several hours later, the scientists were brought to the attention of the two hedgehog as they both yelled out. The subjects were awake, and they weren't happy.

"Faker! Why did you fall asleep on me!?" Shadow yelled at the top of his voice, pushing the blue one off of him. Sonic was frantically shuffled away.

"You were the last one to fall asleep! Why didn't you push me off of you?" Sonic yelled back.

"So you admit you were the one who came onto me!" Shadow roared. At this, Sonic kicked out, getting Shadow square in the face. "Fuck you!" Shadow leapt forward and grabbed Sonic's throat, squeezing it with both hands. Sonic kicked out again, striking Shadow's body several times, before the dark one gave up and grabbed his rips in pain.

Shadow decided to do the same to Sonic, getting him between the legs this time. Sonic squealed out in agony, it was a good job Shadow was bare foot, metal to groin would have been unbearable.

"Th-that's it!" Sonic yelled and pounced on Shadow, biting the closest thing he could, his ear. Shadow yelped and grabbed the hedgehog's shoulders, kicking him several times in the waist to get him off again.

"That's it, if you're going to play dirty!" Shadow cried and bit Sonic's neck. Sonic's teeth finally managed to let go of Shadow's chewed ear. Sonic pulled away from Shadow and put his hand where it hurt on his neck, but Shadow wasn't finished, he grabbed the blue legs and pulled Sonic towards him. "You're going to regret ever starting this, Sonic!"

"Oh yeah!?" he yelled. "What are you going to do!? Take advantage of me?" he yelled in hatred. Shadow noticed the awkward position they were in.

"No, there's very little space in here! I'm not trying to do that!" Shadow exclaimed. Sonic brought up one of his legs, they hit Shadow's groin, right in the middle. The black hedgehog fell back in pain, and grabbed where it hurt. Sonic leapt up and pushed Shadow against the wall, holding him there by his shoulders.

The two of them were face to face, their noses touching each other's, both breathing heavily and bleeding in several places. Sonic couldn't help his gaze fall upon Shadow's fury chest, as Sonic lost eye contact, Shadow looked into his emerald eyes. Their breathing went from heavy to normal as their calmed down.

"Faker… get off of me," Shadow said calmly. "We're being aggressive with each other but it still isn't working…"

Sonic let go and turned away, rubbing his bruise on his neck.

"Sonic… I'm sorry," Shadow reached out for him, putting his hand over the hero's.

"I'm sorry too, Shadow," Sonic started, looking down, miserably. "We're not going to get out of this until we… _do it_…"

The both of them shivered in disgust. Shadow slowly took his hand away from Sonic's neck, the blue one turned around to face his cell mate, stumbling slightly because of the piles of pillows and thick duvets.

It was clear by now that the both of them wanted each other, but neither were able to swallow their pride and admit it. The hedgehog's stood, looking at each other in awe, waiting for their counterpart to say something. The two of them began to yawn, feeling a sudden fatigue fall over them. Sonic was the first to fall this time, leaving Shadow to catch him, then slide down against the wall and become weak himself.

"Those… damn… humans…" Shadow breathed as he fell asleep with Sonic on top of him.

Sonic woke up, feeling groggy and numb. His wounds were stitched up and his bruises treated. He stretched out, noticing the abundance in room, he was back in the bed. But this time, Shadow was closer to him, only an arm's length away. The dark hedgehog's hand was rested on Sonic's waist and he was on his stomach. The ultimate life form began to stir also, turning his head to the side, looking to Sonic with tired eyes. His grip on the blue one tightened, his fingers pressing into hip. Sonic shivered at the hard contact made on the sensitive area. Sonic moved his gloved hand down to Shadow's and held it tightly.

"It's happening, Sonic… and we can't stop it… what do we do?" Shadow whispered.

"Just… take it slow…" Sonic sighed.

"I never thought that you would suggest to go slow," Shadow said with a slight smirk and rolled onto his back, getting closer to him, they were now laying face to face. "We… can't fight it any long… they've won…" he whispered, while smoothing his hand up Sonic's torso, towards the blue one's face. Sonic shivered at the gentle and soothing contact and soft words. Their lips drew closer and closer, until…

LICK

"FAKER!"

Shadow leapt out of the bed, rubbing his wet cheek. Sonic lay on his back and put his hands behind his head and sighing in satisfaction, looking smug.

"Sorry Shadow, I'm not the romantic and serious type…" Sonic chuckled. "I agree with everything you said there but… I don't do intimacy."

Shadow folded his arms and scoffed. "For once, Faker, you haven't surprised me," Shadow jeered callously and turned to the bathroom door and walked inside.

When the dark one returned, Sonic was admiring the newly filled snack table.

"Don't they have Chilli dogs in the future?" Sonic complained, noticing the lack in supply of his favourite food.

"Chilli dogs aren't romantic or flattering Faker, and those humans want us to mate, therefore there will be no Chilli dogs… I thought you would have worked that out by now," Shadow said dismally.

"Can't believe we nearly… ya' know…" Sonic shivered. Shadow nodded in agreement while he walked over to stand by Sonic. The dark one picked up a small cake on the desert shelf, it felt soft and moist as he bit into it. He noticed that Sonic was watching him, so he bit off a piece and held it up to Sonic's face. The hero smirked and opened his mouth, giving Shadow the entrance he needed to place the cake in his mouth. Sonic smirked as he chewed it.

"Like I said before Faker, it'll happen sooner or later… so I might as well get you pregnant now-"

"Woah-woah-woah!" Sonic interrupted, putting his hands out. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

The both of them narrowed their eyes at each other and said,

"Never!"


	10. Bonus

**Bonus Chapter**

Sonic and Shadow found it hard to keep to their word of avoiding sexual or intimate actions with each other. After three kisses, five love bites and two incidents where they nearly ended up making love to each other, they decided to come up with an escape plan.

Escaping turned out to be simple. All they had to do was knock out the scientists as they came through the door and run through it. The two hedgehogs were unsure as to why they hadn't done so earlier… perhaps were _had_ become close to each other. The chaos emerald was very close by, its energy used to help the male pregnancies along.

"Man, security in here sucks!" Sonic said as Shadow nabbed the emerald from a glass case. There were alarms or guards.

"I guess they didn't expect us to have powers or the strength to over take them," Shadow said triumphantly. Sonic gave a chuckle. "Faker, grab my hand- I-I mean arm… I'm taking us back to the present time with Chaos Control."

"Yes please!" Sonic yelled, having enough of this future already. Sonic latched onto Shadow's arm and held on tight.

The two of them ended up in the grave yard. Shadow shivered.

"My past self is buried there right now, aren't I?" Shadow said in discomfort.

"Should I dig him up?" Sonic exclaimed.

"No! Are you crazy? That would cause some kind of paradox… or there would be two of me," Shadow exclaimed. Sonic sighed.

"But…"

"Perhaps you should have thought about going back in time and freeing me before you dug me up in the future!" Shadow yelled and stomped off out of the grave yard.

"I'm sorry Shadow! I didn't want to do that! You can't change the past! If you were out of the grave perhaps I would have guessed it was me and done it!" Sonic defended himself. "I don't even know if time travel works that way…"

"Hmph, whatever," Shadow grumbled. The hedgehog guessed that time travel probably didn't work that way be refused to admit that he was wrong.

"Hehe, Rouge will be so happy to see you!" Sonic chuckled and caught up with his friend.

"And I'm going to be happy to see her… first female in two hundred years. Don't be alarmed if she alerts you of any sexual tension on my part," Shadow said shamefully.

"Sexual tension? Even after out little 'adventure'?" Sonic chuckled.

"Yes, especially after that," Shadow snapped then turned and stood in front of Sonic, looking at him firmly. "Listen, Faker. If what we did gets out then I will hold you solely responsible for it… and you don't even want to know what I'll do to you if that happens!" Sonic's eyes widened at Shadow's threat. "And do not come to me if you feel 'lonely', not even for a friendly chat. I want to put this behind me and forget about the whole ordeal."

"Okay, Shadow. No need to panic," Sonic sighed, then changed his tone all of a sudden to his usual perky one. "Wanna race back to Rouge's place?"

"With pleasure, Faker!" Shadow sneered and ran ahead as fast as he could. Sonic sped after him leaving a breeze of wind and dust behind him.

The blue one over took his rival easily. After all of those years of being buried, Shadow needed practice to get himself back on track. Sonic knocked on the door frantically, with a wide smile of excitement on his face. Shadow would be here any second and the blue hedgehog would get to shove his victory in Shadow's face.

Rouge opened the door soon after, she seemed to be in a rush, eager to known who it was.

"Sonic, you've been a while! Tails is waiting for you!" Rouge exclaimed, then gasped. "And you don't even have the drinks!"

"S-sorry about that… but I have something even better!" Sonic cheered. Just then, Shadow came charging around the corner.

"Damn you, Faker!" he yelled and bumped right into his rival. Sonic tumbled onto the dry, rough concrete of the alley way, with Shadow on top of him, struggling to get off.

"Shadow!?" Rouge yelled angrily and pulled him up. "Where have you been!?"

"It's… a long story…" Shadow sighed and looked down. "I've been through a lot of pain… and misery… I'm… just so glad to see you…" he looked into Rouge's eyes and grabbed her hands.

"Pah! Says the one who's perfectly groomed and smells like he's just gotten out of the shower… you're not in the state that says you've been going through misery for a whole week!" Rouge said and turned to go back inside.

Shadow's mouth gaped open.

"She… doesn't believe me…" Shadow said breathlessly while looking at Sonic. The blue one gave a quiet chuckle.

"I think it's best that way… since you don't want anyone to know about what happened," Sonic said and walked inside. Shadow sighed and followed, closing the door behind him.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed when Sonic walked into the kitchen. "Where have you been? It's been an hour!" Sonic walked over and hugged his friend longingly.

"Ahh… it's a long story… I'll tell you when we get home…" Sonic said happily while giving his brother a bear hug. He caught Shadow in the corner of his eye giving him a death glare.

"What happened to you Shadow?" Rouge asked seriously. Shadow rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"The usual, needed some time alone," Shadow lied.

"Where did you go?" she asked another question. Shadow paused for a second before he answered.

"I stayed in Station Square…" Shadow said. He was telling the truth, he hadn't actually been to any other place… just another time. "Why, were you worried?" Rouge's expression turned to a furious one, Shadow held his hands up to his face as the bat went to slap him.

"H-h-hey!" Tails interrupted. "Rouge… remember what I told you…" Rouge turned to him before she could hit Shadow. "You know… the conversation with Sonic I told you about."

"Which conversation?" Sonic asked all of a sudden, worried that any secrets could have gotten out. Rouge gave a sly smile.

"Oh yes…" she said mischievously and turned to Shadow. "Shadow… have you noticed that there's a lot less hedgehogs around here?"

"Hmm… what are you getting at?" Shadow narrowed his eyes cautiously.

"What if you… Sonic and Amy happen to be the last hedgehogs around?" Rouge asked. Sonic's eyes widened, Shadow became uneasy.

"Wh-hat?" Shadow trembled. Rouge giggled at his reaction. Sonic and Shadow looked at each other in fear.

"The last three hedgehogs in existence…" Rouge pondered. "Surely there's more… otherwise you'd have to fight over her."

Tails joined in with the jokes. "It would be unfortunate if Sonic and Shadow were the last to survive, and-"

"That's it Tails! Time to go!" Sonic grabbed the fox's arm and pulled him the door.

"Sonic? What's wrong?" the young one exclaimed.

"I'll explain when we get home," Sonic whispered. "Well Rouge, thanks for having us over!" he rushed through his sentence and left.

Rouge watched as Sonic left and slammed the door behind him all of a sudden, then she turned to Shadow who looked very uneasy. The poor hedgehog was looking into space with his eyes wide open, the left one twitching, his tail between his legs. All of his muscles were stiff,

"Shadow?"

The hedgehog snapped out of it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Shadow sighed and walked to the bedroom to have some time alone. The only thoughts going through his mind were the intimate times with Sonic. He wished he could get amnesia again to erase those memories.

Sonic and Shadow both knew that staying away from each other and acting like it never happened would be hard… but they had to do it.

* * *

The End! This story is complete. Please don't ask for me to continue it. If you enjoyed my Sonadow, just hope that I get an idea to write some more one day. I only write well when inspired by a good idea. I also have a Sonadow series, 'My Immortal', and also have another story to add to the series on the way, but those stories are quite different.

This story has been very successful in terms of hits and reviews so thank you all so much!

**Lucy Labrador**


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